Molecular landscape in food addiction to mental health

Food addiction is widely debated to resolve various disease connectivity in the scientific community. There are significant similarities between food addiction and other addictive disorders including decreased sensitivity of the dopamine-reward system, genetic polymorphisms (DRD2 and OPRM1), and behavioral indicators of addiction. An individual’s response to environmental factors can play a role in their vulnerability to food addiction. The social environment and gene-environment interactions are important considerations as to why certain individuals are more susceptible to food addiction. These interactions along with biomarkers can provide a clear picture of why a person may fall prey to addiction. Several biomarkers have been associated with food addiction. These biomarkers include bacterial genera (Bacteroides, Megamonas, Eubacterium, and Akkermansia), fumarate hydratase (FH), ATP synthase subunit alpha (ATP5a1), and transketolase (TKT) in the nucleus accumbens, and striatal D2 receptor availability. Omics technologies have been beneficial in identifying many of these biomarkers and will be necessary for future findings related to food addiction. This review discusses common environmental factors and biomarkers impacting food addiction with an emphasis on the importance of omics technologies in this field.